“Ah, in any case… Maybe just don’t ask,” Duan Ling answered clumsily.
“Oh?” Helian Bo said, then chuckled knowingly.
“What?!” Duan Ling exclaimed defensively. He immediately sensed the famed shamelessness of the Tanguts who, according to Wu Du, “even screwed horses.” Incensed, he cried, “Hey, what are you thinking?!”
Helian Bo responded with a magnanimous wave. Only then did Duan Ling recall Helian Bo had yet to settle the score with Wu Du after Wu Du punched him. Clearly, all was forgiven.
Exhaustion crashed over Duan Ling; life had been so much more carefree when they were children. Allowing himself to relax into their easy companionship, Duan Ling lay down on the boulder with Helian Bo, side by side.
“He saved my life,” Duan Ling said somewhat dazedly as he stared at the night sky. Dark clouds loomed overhead, obscuring the brilliant stars. He turned his head toward Helian Bo. “I don’t know what he is to me. He’s just—him. I guess he’s just Wu Du.”
“Mn.”
“The reason I couldn’t come to you before is that I’ve also kept some things from him. Every step in the Bian residence had to be carefully calculated—one wrong move and the whole game was lost. I’m sorry, Helian.”
Helian Bo only chuckled again. “G-g-good you’re a-alive.”
Duan Ling had to admit that he thought the same.
Back at Tong Pass, Bian Lingbai had summoned Fei Hongde for an urgent meeting. Having long anticipated this request would come, Fei Hongde took his time appearing, arriving at the hall in an oversized night robe. After hearing his soldiers wail out their report on the nighttime ambush, Bian Lingbai was newly on edge.
Pacing back and forth in the main hall, he muttered anxiously, “We have to…immediately—”
“Calm yourself, General,” Fei Hongde said. “An ambush that ends without a clear result is but a probe.” He turned to the injured soldiers. “You are dismissed. Go see to your wounds.”
The soldiers were carried out by their fellows. Fei Hongde closed the doors behind them before turning again to Bian Lingbai. “Aside from you, me, Young Master Zhao, and Wu Du, no one else knows what is buried within that cave.”
“Yes… Yes, you’re right.” Bian Lingbai wiped sweat from his brow, realizing upon Fei Hongde’s reminder that he’d become overwrought.
“Why did Wu Du leave?” Fei Hongde asked, though he already knew the answer.
“To search for the late emperor’s sword that was lost in the north, the Guardian of the Realm,” Bian Lingbai answered.
“I don’t imagine Wu Du is a man who’d commit treason and collude with the enemy,” Fei Hongde said, seemingly unbothered. “If he was, he wouldn’t have waited until today.”
“True.” Bian Lingbai couldn’t stand Wu Du, but he’d never heard of him shirking his duty to the nation. Yet at hearing the word treason, he became agitated once again.
“Young Master Zhao is still in his youth; it’s not impossible for him to have made a grave mistake,” Fei Hongde said, sounding genuine in his speculation.
“Impossible,” Bian Lingbai said, rejecting the idea outright. He’d kicked the brat off a cliff himself—he’d even heard a thud. How could the boy still be alive?
“If it wasn’t you who spoke, General, and it wasn’t me, then perhaps the assassin from the other night…” Bian Lingbai jolted, as if something had just occurred to him. Fei Hongde concluded, “From what I can guess, that man may very well have been sent by Helian Da.”
For a second, Bian Lingbai wondered with grave suspicion whether Fei Hongde had discovered his plans. But Fei Hongde shifted the topic almost immediately.
“Helian Da has been locked in a power struggle with Helian Bo and the queen dowager of the Tuyuhun tribe for some time,” he explained. “He must be planning to kill Shang Leguan and his party within Tong Pass, inciting enmity between our two nations. As for the assassin, it’s clear he’s been watching us closely. His suspicions were likely roused when Young Master Zhao and I went to Qin Ridge—it’s certainly plausible that he returned to investigate the area.”
“You’re right.” The murderous gleam in Bian Lingbai’s eyes disappeared as fast as it had arisen, though the thought of eliminating his too-knowledgeable advisor lingered. Truly, he couldn’t keep Fei Hongde much longer; the man was too smart for his own good. But Bian Lingbai still needed him—for now. “Tell me, sir,” he asked, “what do you think our next move should be?”
“We needn’t worry. The sun is about to rise; even if the Tanguts found the treasure’s location, they wouldn’t know what was hidden there. You should dispatch another squad to guard the mountainside—try to station them beyond the Tanguts’ encirclement and order them to keep watch on their movements from behind. Once night falls, you and I will travel to the site ourselves. Bring all the men you’ll need. We’ll unearth the treasure tonight and transport it all out.”
Bian Lingbai considered the plan. It did indeed seem the best option left.
“Whoever ambushed your men knows there’s something suspicious about that area, but not what or why,” Fei Hongde consoled him. “As long as you don’t make a personal appearance, General, they won’t know the significance of what our men are guarding. Without any concrete information, all they can do is probe. Before you go yourself, we’ll make all necessary arrangements to prevent any mishaps.”
“At this point, that’s all we can do,” Bian Lingbai agreed.
Taking his leave, Bian Lingbai hurried off to make preparations. He would send guards into the forested section east of Qin Ridge and have them take up key positions on high ground: From there, they could monitor the Tanguts’ every move.
Duan Ling was lying on his side on the boulder, asleep, when the sky began to lighten. The voices of men making reports to Helian Bo roused him. Listening groggily, he learned that Bian Lingbai had sent troops to fortify the surrounding area, but the general himself hadn’t appeared. It seemed his and Fei Hongde’s plan had worked.
It was the fourth day since Wu Du had departed. By now, Duan Ling estimated, he should’ve obtained what he needed in Xichuan and begun his return journey. “Bian Lingbai will come tonight,” he told Helian Bo. “Let’s go—have your people follow me to the adjacent hilltop. Leave a few men here to patrol the area and keep watch for any movement.”
Helian Bo and his scouts confirmed their method of communication: fire signals. If Bian Lingbai’s troops began to move, the men at their current position would light a torch, which should be visible from the opposite hillside. Duan Ling and Helian Bo would head for the treasure cave; a sentry would be stationed at the entrance and would report inside the moment he saw the signal.
“Th-these are the finest warriors of Western Liang,” Helian Bo explained to Duan Ling.
Much like the Four Great Assassins of Southern Chen, Western Liang maintained a special unit of elite soldiers. This personal guard had existed since the founding of the Tangut empire.
Duan Ling was filled with mixed emotions. Helian Bo slapped his own chest again with confidence, reassuring him that he needn’t worry: Even if Bian Lingbai and Helian Da plotted to kill him, he would escape—even from a battalion of thousands.